Q: How old does my child have to be to play soccer in NVSC?
A: NVSC has teams for children ages 3-18.
Q: How often are practices?
A: Practices are usually two times a week. The younger players - under 6 years old oftentimes practice only once a week. Since this is recreational soccer, practices are not mandatory and players are not penalized for missing practices. But practices are very important especially if your child is not familiar with the game and rules. Practices also foster team spirit and let the players and coaches build important relationships that continue on and off the field.
Q: When and where are practices held?
A: Practice days, times, and locations are selected by the coaches. The coaches are all volunteers and a benefit of volunteering is having control over your practice schedule. Practices are 1 hour long from either 5:00-6:00 or 6:00-7:00 and are located at elementary school fields and parks around the Manassas area. You can specify preferences for locations and days in the Comments field when you register but there are no guarantees that preferences will be honored and there are no refunds based on inconvenient practice scheduling. Teams are organized by zip codes, elementary schools, and neighborhoods and every effort is made to have children practice close to where they live. Only if a parent volunteers to be a head coach do they get first preference. There are no make-up practices for cancelled practices (due to weather or coach’s availability).
Q: When are the games and where are they held?
A: Games for the Rec League are played on Saturdays. The length of the games varies based on children’s ages. The earliest games start at 9:00am. For children under 8, games are about 1 hour, with quarter breaks and half-time breaks. For children over 8 years old - games can be anywhere from a little over an hour to 90 minutes with just half-time breaks. If the games are rained out, your coach will inform you of the make-up day (generally the Sunday a week after the scheduled game).
When you register your child, you will specify a location - this will be where your games are played. NVSC currently has 3 locations: Hellwig Park in Independent Hill (U4-U19), Valley View Park in Bristow (U4-U12), and Ben Lomond Park in Manassas (U4-U19). When you register for a location, all your games are played at that location if your children are play in the U4-U12 leagues. If your children play in the U13-U19 leagues, they are registered in the Suburban Friendship League (SFL) and then their home games are played at the location you registered for and you will have away games in other Northern Virginia areas (Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County).
Q: When does the season start?
A: Open registration ends February 29th. After that you can register your child but an additional $15 late fee will be applied to your registration and there is no guarantee for team placement although NVSC makes every attempt to place players. The first games for the Spring 2012 Recreational Season will be played on Saturday, April 14th. The last games will be Saturday, June 9th. There will be a U12 NVSC tournament on June 9th and an SFL tournament on Sat. June 9th and Sun. June 10th.
Q: What is the SFL? Who runs it?
A: NVSC participates in the SFL which allows players in the U13-U19 age groups to participate in more competitive play. These leagues will have HOME games played at the fields you registered for (Ben Lomond or Hellwig) and also AWAY games that are played in the Northern Virginia Area (Prince William, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties). The SFL is an independent league that NVSC participates in along with other area soccer leagues. For more information about the SFL, please visit http://www.sflsoccer.org/
Q: I’ve heard the terms Rec Soccer and House Teams, what do they mean?
A: Rec soccer is a Recreational League (also called a House League). This league is a friendly, organized league that accepts anyone who wants to register within the age restrictions. There are no tryouts. Score is not kept and parents volunteer for snacks, coaching, and field setup.
Q: I didn’t realize parents have to volunteer. Why is this?
A: NVSC is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing children in Prince William County an opportunity to play soccer in a team environment. In order to keep this opportunity open to as many families as possible, costs must be reasonable. Costs are controlled by the time and dedication to all of our volunteers. Parents volunteer to coach, manage coaches, and manage the league. If you would like to help, please volunteer during the registration process.
Q: Can I request to be put on a particular coach’s team? Similarly, can I request to not be put on a particular team?
A: Yes. During registration, there is a Special Request field that you can ask to be put on a specific coach’s team or not to be put on their team. You can also make special requests such as playing with a particular child (maybe your child’s best friend), or to practice at a particular time/place/day. All requests are equally considered, but not all can be honored.
